Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Hanish Patel and Marc Simonetti
The Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) determined that the sale of certain online membership benefits—early, exclusive access to products and deals and unlimited cloud data storage—were not subject to Florida sales tax or the Communications Service Tax (CST). However, the DOR added that the taxpayer’s purchase of reorder button…
By Jessica Eisenmenger and Amy Nogid
The Florida Department of Revenue determined that software upgrades that are delivered electronically are not subject to sales tax because the upgrade was a stand-alone version of the software and did not rely on the earlier, physically-delivered software to operate. The Department also determined that sales tax does not…
By Evan Hamme and Charlie Kearns
Purchases of “data center equipment for assembly, use, or consumption in the operations of a qualified data center” on or after January 1, 2016, are exempt from Michigan sales and use tax. M.C.L. §§ 205.54ee, 205.94cc; see generally Notice Regarding Data Center Exemption, Feb. 5, 2016…
By Todd Betor and Jonathan Feldman
On February 11, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that the receipts earned by Orbitz, an online travel company, from its services and markups for reserved rooms are not subject to sales tax. Specifically, the court determined that Orbitz is not “furnishing” rooms or lodging for purposes of Wisconsin…
Applying the “true object” test to the taxpayer’s web-based services, the Tennessee Department of Revenue ruled that charges for granting access to the taxpayer’s website for purposes of obtaining information would not be subject to sales tax. While the access to web-based services is tax-exempt as a sale of…
By Charles Capouet and Charlie Kearns
The Georgia Department of Revenue released a letter ruling stating that a taxpayer’s health-related information service was not subject to sales and use tax. The service includes a web portal to provide health information and track the user’s personal results and the in-person performance of an annual biometric health…
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued its opinion in Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl, reversing the district court’s order granting summary judgment. The Tenth Circuit held that Colorado’s notice and reporting requirements imposed on non-collecting retailers did not violate the dormant Commerce Clause because they neither discriminated against, nor …
On February 11, the United States Senate approved a permanent extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA), which previously passed the House of Representatives on December 15, 2015. Additionally, ITFA’s Grandfather Clause, which allows certain states to continue to tax Internet access, is phased out. President Obama is expected to sign the permanent extension …
By Chris Mehrmann and Charlie Kearns
The Tennessee Department of Revenue has issued guidance explaining that the retail sale of, use of, or subscription to a computer software maintenance contract is subject to sales and use tax when: (1) the maintenance contract is sold as part of a taxable sale of computer software; (2) the…
By Zach Atkins and Madison Barnett
The Ohio Department of Taxation issued a revised information release announcing its new positions regarding sales and use tax on electronic information services used in business. In the release, the Department takes the position that taxable electronic information services can include, among other things, subscription services, inventory advertising and…
